Understanding Bed Bugs is the most important part of Bed Bug control treatments!

Bed bug control treatments are always on the minds of pest control companies and their technicians in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. We are always getting calls from grossed out folks who are looking for answers and treatments for their infested homes. Learning about the bed bug’s life cycle and behavior is an important first step in understanding how to win the battle against them, take your home back, and perhaps restore your sanity.

If you you missed my recent article about the beginning of the bed bug life cycle, Bed Bug Sex, you can read it here. Though it is kinda scary stuff so I won’t be offended if you choose to skip that whole mess.

Where Do Baby Bed Bugs Come From?

After the literally traumatic event that bed bug mating is occurs The female bed bug is ready to lay eggs. She finds a nice cozy spot, usually in a tight crack or crevice that offers protection for her eggs, and drops a bunch. When I say a bunch, I mean A BUNCH! A female bed bug will lay as many as five hundred eggs throughout her lifetime. Folks, my wife has given birth to seven kids and I don’t here the end of it. Just imagine how ticked off these bed bug mamas are!

Bed bug eggs are pearly white and about the size of a pin head. They are found in clusters of anywhere from 30 to 100 eggs. Check out this pic of a cluster we found at the end of a bed frame slat. This bed had about ten of these slats and there was eggs at the end of almost every one of them. That’s a lot of bed bugs!

Bed Bugs go through a life cycle called Gradual Metamorphosis. Gradual Metamorphosis has three stages:

Egg

Nymph (With 5 Sub-Stages)

Adult

Eggs usually take from one to two weeks to hatch under ideal conditions.

Nymphs, or baby bed bugs, must molt between each of the five stages. Molting is the process of shedding the old exoskeleton or skin so that there is room to grow.

These shed skins are part of what pest pros look for when we are doing an initial inspection of a home. They can tell us how old the infestation is, where it is, and how bad or extensive it is.

Nymphs don’t change shape all that much but their color and translucence changes quite a bit. A fresh out of the egg, first stage nymph is not much bigger than the egg it came out of. They are usually off white in color and very translucent, almost clear.

The second through fifth stages are a gradual transformation of getting bigger and darker in color until they are an adult which is about the size and color of an apple seed. This process usually takes about a month with the right temperatures and an adequate food source. Before this is always the best time to do a bed bug control treatment.

Bed bug nymphs and adults group together on mattresses, box springs and bed frames.

What do those cute little baby bed bugs eat?

Just like the mating process requires the adults to have a nice big human blood meal first, bed bug nymphs require a blood meal at each stage of their development. A first stage nymph cannot molt and enter the second stage until it has engorged itself with blood. It’s kinda like how your mom told you you had to eat your vegetables in order to grow up to be big and strong… except the vegetables are YOU!

A bed bug nymph without a human host to feed on will stay at it’s current stage, sometimes for months, until it can eat. This is why the most important part of a good bed bug control treatment is to completely isolate the bed. If they can’t get to you then they can’t grow up to be adults and continue to multiply!

How long does a bed bug live?

After the metamorphosis is complete, about a month from egg to adult if conditions are right, a bed bug will begin the process of feeding and mating for around ten months but sometimes as long as a full year. As insects go that’s a very long life span! That’s 12 months of drinking your blood and laying hundreds of eggs!

If you’re having a problem with Bed Bugs…or any other pest…or simply a question…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey West. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

Effective Bed Bug Control relies on knowledge of their development and behavior.

Bed bug control is constantly on the minds of pest control pros in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. We are always getting called by grossed out folks who are looking for answers and treatments for their infested homes. Learning about the bed bug’s life cycle and behavior is an important first step in understanding how to win the battle against them.

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about bed bug sex but were afraid to ask!

Okay, if I’m Being honest it’s probably:

“Everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about bed bug sex but now that I mention it you’re cautiously interested in learning.”

Still With me? Okay, In this series of posts on Bed Bug control I plan to teach you all about the life cycle of bed bugs. Of course, you can’t start the study of the life cycle of any animal without learning about their mating habits first.

I’m going to do my best to be a grown up about this but just a fair warning: the bed bugs themselves aren’t too grown up, or nice, or civil about it. Trust me, this will get… weird.

Seriously though, bed bugs are already gross enough with the way they feed on your blood and then poop blood stains onto your sheets so it’s really crazy to find out about their less than nice mating rituals. So put the kids to bed, lock up the cat and/or dog, and maybe even your spouse if they get squeamish about some things, and enjoy the read!

The Differences Between the Sexes

Male and female bed bugs are relatively simple to tell apart. Males are more egg shaped, slimmer and longer. Females are rounder, especially toward the rear. If you ever have a reason to memorize the two, just remember “Baby Got Back.” She got them “Egg bearing hips.”

“Courting”

After they have had a nice, filling meal of human blood male bed bugs are ready to mate. Male beg bugs are one of the more frisky critters in the animal kingdom. They aren’t necessarily looking for “Mrs. Right” as much as they are looking for, well any adult bed bug. Luckily for nymphs, or juvenile bed bugs, they produce a pheromone that tells the adult males that they are not a good mating partner. However this seems to be the limit of their “discretion.”

Male bed bugs are pretty much “Down for anything” or anyone. Males will chase down (literally chase down, because the other bed bugs are definitely not interested) any other adult bed bug and forcibly mate with it. Females (and, yes, other males) are resistant to this because of the violent nature of the mating and the damage that it can cause to them.

The Battle of the Sexes

I apologize for this part, but really, this is why you’re here. Right? The female bed bug’s body is not actually designed for easy insemination. So male bed bugs have a sharp, pointy penis that is shaped like a curved hypodermic needle.

The male bed bug mounts the female, finds a weak body segment and jabs his sword-like penis into the females abdomen, ejaculating directly into the female’s (or male’s) body cavity fluid, called hemolymph. This process is called “Traumatic Insemination” by scientists but most ladies call it “not cool!”

The actual act of mating is not pretty for bed bugs.

Understandably, this traumatic insemination can cause serious damage to the female, or male, bed bug that was inseminated. It leaves a hole as well as cracks in the exoskeleton of the female, and can lead to infection and even death in some cases. What’s really scary for the females is that to reproduce at the most efficient rate this must happen several times during her lifetime.

After insemination the sperm travel through the fluid inside the body of the female until they find her ovaries. This is where the eggs are fertilized and.. well if you don’t already know all of this part you probably shouldn’t have been reading this article in the first place.

Well now you’re probably really glad that when Mom and Dad sat you down and gave you “The Talk” all those years ago, that they didn’t tell you about the “Birds and the Bed Bugs!” That could’ve really messed you up!

To me, it is interesting though to see how one gender in a species has such a resistance to mating while the other gender has developed a way around that resistance. Though that way around is pretty nasty! In fact, it’s so nasty that if you have bed bugs you are probably wanting to make sure this kind of activity does NOT go on in your home anymore. Put a stop to it!

If you’re having a problem with Bed Bugs…or any other pest…or simply a question about Bed Bug control or anything else…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Bed Bug Control requires effective inspections!

Bed Bug control is a huge issue here in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area! One of the most common calls that we get is frantic homeowners finding bedbugs that they didn’t know they had.

Many times when a homeowner first finds bed bugs in their home they have already had them for several weeks or even months already. The reason for this is that bed bug infestations usually start with just a few and then multiply very quickly with an available source of human blood. In as little as 10 weeks a room can go from having only 2 bed bugs to having as many as a thousand! And this problem is compounded by the fact that you usually never see them unless you look for them.

Lots of folks think that they would first notice bed bugs when they see or feel bites. But this is often not the case. A bed bug bite itself leaves no mark. They have a very tiny beak that they use to get to your blood. Some folks have a mild allergic reaction to the saliva left behind which can leave a red, itchy welt on the skin at the site of the bite. But this reaction only happens in a little bit less than half the population leaving most people with no visible evidence of a bite.

So what can you do to find bed bugs in your home before they become a big problem? I’ll outline 5 places where you might find bed bugs hiding in your bed room. Use this as a periodic check or as a way to set yourself at ease when you may have visited an infested friend’s house, a motel, or a movie theater.

Here’s is a quick video with the president of NaturZone Pest Control Bill Stewart on inspection and Bed Bug Control. [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze6BVl6c7yA[/embedyt]

There are 5 main places to check in a bedroom:

Folds and Seams of Your Mattress

Folds and Crevices of Your Box Spring

Bed-side Tables and Other Furniture Near Bed

Curtains Near or Touching Bed

Cracks and Crevices of Bed Frame

Many people think that the edges of the carpet are an important place to check while doing a bed bug control inspection. While bed bugs will infest the edges of carpeting this usually happens latter in the progression of the infestation so that by that point the problem is already apparent.

Keep in mind that bed bugs will hide anywhere where they have protection from light and movement, especially if that place offers easy access to a human host. So when in doubt, check!

Folds and Seams of Your Mattress

Bed bugs usually will not travel far from their host. This means that sometimes you can find them as close as the folds or under the seams of the mattress. Usually this will be on the underside of the mattress except in cases where the infestation has already progressed quite a bit.

What you are looking for is 4 different things that tell you you have an infestation:

Bed Bugs themselves

Bed Bug Skins from Molting

Pinhead Sized, Pearly White Eggs

Black Spots or Stains (Feces)

Folds and Crevices of Box Spring

The box springs are often the place where we find the most activity. The folds of fabric on the bottom side of the box spring are a perfect spot that offers protection from light and movement. We will often find clusters of eggs along with the blood stains that are the feces of bed bugs and the bugs themselves in these folds.

The plastic or metal bumpers on the corners of the box springs also provide a great place for bed bugs to hide, mate, and lay eggs. And don’t forget the cracks and crevices on the inside of the box springs. Between the wood pieces, cardboard and fabric are all important spots to check.

Curtains

The back side of curtains are a often overlooked spot to check for signs of bed bugs.

The backside of curtains, Especially those that touch a bed, are often a big area of activity. Usually at the top of the curtains around the seams and folds and on the back side you can find signs of bed bugs if you have an infestation.

Bed-side Tables

Underneath or in the cracks and crevices of bed-side tables and other pieces of furniture touching or near the bed will usually provide a good place for bed bugs to hide. Look anywhere that two pieces of wood meet. inside or underneath drawers too.

Cracks and Crevices of Bed Frame

This is also a big one. Depending on the type of frame, it can harbor more of these nasty blood suckers than the box springs. Look in the cracks and crevices, anywhere that two or more pieces of material meet is a potential spot for bed bugs, eggs and other signs.

If you’re having a problem with Bed Bugs…or any other pest…or simply a question about bed bug control or anything else…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey West. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

Phoenix and Scottsdale pest control: What pests carry diseases?

Around here, in Phoenix and Scottsdale, pest control techs are always asked about diseases that pests can carry. There are a lot of pests that are thought of as “dangerous” that don’t actually spread disease or threaten humans. But then there are quite a few that actually can carry dangerous bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. In this article we’ll look at four of the worst offenders.

Some of these pests have been responsible for millions of deaths historically. In these days of constantly available healthcare these pests aren’t killing as many folks as they once did, but many illnesses in Scottsdale and the phoenix area are still being spread by them.

Let’s look at Four of the pests that affect us here in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area

Rodents

Flies

Fleas

Cockroaches

This is definitely not a comprehensive list, but just a look at a few pests that should not be ignored. If you have any of these it is best to get the problem taken care of sooner rather than later. All Scottsdale pest control issues become more and more annoying and possibly dangerous when left to multiply. They also become much harder to eradicate too. It’s always a good idea to get your pest control program started right away.

Rodents

Rats can carry serious plague disease.

Historians estimate that in the 14th century between 1/4 and 1/2 of Europe’s population was wiped out by the Bubonic Plague. The plague was spread by rats. Not directly though. The rats were infested with fleas that were carrying infected blood (more about fleas in a minute).

Rats still can carry fleas, but they, along with other rodents, like mice, have also been associated with typhus, rickettsialpox, leptospirosis and rat-bite fever.

Rodent expert Bill Stewart says “If you have started to see rats or mice around your home, the time to start your pest control program is right now! Don’t wait until the problem becomes a catastrophe.”

Flies

When most folks think of flies they think of them more as an annoyance than as a health risk. But flies are carriers of numerous diseases. A single housefly can carry as many as one million bacteria on its body at once!

Flies spread diseases just by landing on something that humans use or eat. But that’s not the worst of it. When a fly lands on something it thinks is food, it immediately regurgitates onto that food and then slurps it back up! This of course spreads whatever bacteria were inside of the fly to the food it landed on.

Flies are known to carry Salmonella and E. Coli, as well as the bacteria that cause dysentery and cholera. Here’s the kicker. Not only do flies spread filth, but they are usually the result of unsanitary conditions. They love to breed in dog feces, rotting food and other unsanitary places where their larva have moisture and food to grow. And it usually only takes a few days to get a new generation of flies bothering you and spreading diseases.

Fleas

Fleas can carry many diseases but our main concern here in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area, or the whole Southwest for that matter is Bubonic Plague. Recently fleas in Arizona have tested positive for Plague. In addition to plague, fleas carry typhus and various types of parasites that can be transmitted from dogs to humans.

Fleas are carried by small animals. Though at one time it was the rats that fleas were hitching a ride on the most, these days most folks get their flea problems from their pets. Dogs and cats easily carry fleas, and their diseases, to their owners.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches can carry numerous diseases including Salmonella, parasitic amoebas, and even viruses. German Roaches specifically, carry bacteria around kitchens and bathrooms all the time. German roaches also present another problem for homeowners. Many folks can have allergic reactions when German roaches are present in their homes.

Cockroaches can be a tough pest for anyone to control but NaturZone Pest Control covers the entire Valley of the Sun including Scottsdale and Phoenix! And we offer the industry’s best guarantee against German Cockroaches. A full One-Year Warranty!

If you’re having a problem with German Roaches…or any of these disease carrying pests…or you simply have a question about pest control…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

Cockroach infestation control is a very common issue affecting most homes here is the Phoenix area. There are many types of cockroaches found here, and believe it or not, non of them are actually native to the area. We will briefly discuss what critters we most commonly come across while working here as exterminators in both residential and commercial settings. For a more comprehensive discussion on particular roaches we will be adding more pages in the future.

The American Sewer Roach.

This would likely deserve a spot on the list of most gross insects that our customers will find. That is because they are a combination of fast, large and, well, quite juicy! They are considered to be originally from Africa and actually cannot live long without a regular water source, and are considered an insect that prefers to live underground. While this is often the case, we have found them living well even in trees and have to search out nests of them in trees while doing an inspection. One fortunate aspect of these is that they do not adapt well to a regular inside home environment and thus when they do intrude they are usually found dead or dying upside down even in a home without pesticides!

The Turkistan Cockroach.

Turkistan roaches seem to come in two very distinct colors and shapes. The male adults tend to be kind of narrow and light tan colored. They have wings and run very fast. The female by comparison is a bit more oblong or wider in appearance, has no visible wings and is nearly black in color. They really do look like two different types of cockroaches. Also these do not seem to adapt well to the inside of a home also as we almost never find them inside and never in numbers.

The German Cockroach.

There german roach is a small roach, usually reaching little more than half an inch in length. Their bodies are somewhat narrow and their coloring is from light brown to very dark brown, and their bodies seem to have two dark strips going down their backside. They multiply quickly and can not only reach huge numbers inside a home within a year, but if they go uncontrolled they will stain up the areas they stay around (they wipe their feces around where they hand out) and in large enough numbers they can make the house almost smell like vomit (as one landlord referred to it).

The german roach is an insect that is quite rare to find infesting single family homes. This is because they do not adapt to living outside so there is no risk of an outdoor infestation getting inside. Instead they are “shared” from either an attached neighbor or brought in from another infested location.

In Phoenix and Scottsdale Pest Control is serious business! Forgive me then if I fall into a bit of frivolity to celebrate everyone’s favorite Holiday, Presidents Day! Okay, maybe it’s everybody’s favorite 3-day weekend.

I was thinking about what it takes to be a good Exterminator earlier today when I realized that it was Presidents Day. Then the thought entered my mind that I wouldn’t trust a lot of these guys to do my Pest control, let alone run an entire country!

Politics

You’re thinking “This dude has lost his mind if he’s going to start talking politics on a pest control blog!” And you’d be right ! So I won’t go into it and I promise to keep it even. As in I am an equal opportunity roaster. No president is safe from my criticisms of his pest control abilities…or lack thereof.

I do have one thing to say about politics before we get started though, and it is surprisingly related to Scottsdale pest control. Or anywhere pest control for that matter.

Do you know the origin of the word politics? It’s derived from two words. The first is the Latin prefix “Poli” which means “Many” and the other is “Tics” which are blood sucking pests! Mic drop. I’m here all week folks. (Okay, I stole that from Robin Williams. Sorry)

Richard Nixon: Not a Crook

“I am not a crook.” ~ Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon removed himself from office to prevent the humiliation of being removed from office by congress. Some say he wasn’t as bad as he was made out to be, and I’m always willing to entertain differing opinions, but for the purposes of this list, he was that bad.

In my opinion Honesty is an important part of being a pest control professional, or any kind of professional. How would folks want you in or around their homes if you aren’t a trustworthy person? So that’s why Richard Nixon would make a terrible exterminator. I may come to your house at night with a flashlight if needed, but you’ll always know in advance! And that’s a rock solid guarantee!

Andrew Johnson: Mr. Grumpy Pants

A face only a mother could love. Maybe.

A good exterminator needs to have some people skills. He needs to be willing to help customers solve problems. Andrew Johnson, the man who became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln probably would’ve had trouble with this aspect of Pest Control.

After he became President it is said that most of his political problems could be traced to his personality, or lack thereof. Not only did he have a terrible time getting along with the opposition party, he also had a lot of trouble with his party. This lead to his impeachment. Though he did somehow find a way to be elected to the US Senate after that.

Bill Clinton: Philanderer in Chief

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” ~ Bill Clinton

“Indeed I did have a relationship that was not appropriate.” ~ Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton is on here for similar reasons as Richard Nixon, dishonesty. But his comes in the form of…naughtiness. No matter what your political affiliation, you have to admit that if Bill Clinton showed up at your door you’d keep a close eye on him around you wife or daughter.

This is the dude who has an intern in every office, yes, even the Oval Office. And when questioned about it, he’s the guy who doesn’t exactly know what the meaning of “Is” is. “Slick Willy” probably wouldn’t make the best exterminator because you would never be able to trust him.

An exterminator has to be able to solve problems by investigating the situation and then implementing a solid plan. Some of the less skilled exterminators out there will try to solve a lot of pest problems with a “Bug Bomb” or fogger. Some will just go for the “Spray n’ Pray” or “Scorched Earth” approach, spraying every inch of a property with pesticide. These are not solutions.

Enter George W. Bush. Dub Ya never saw a bomb he didn’t like and he wasn’t known for being a particularly strong “Figure-Outer.” So as an exterminator he’d likely be the type to solve everything with a bug bomb.

William Henry Harrison: Dead Dude

Who?

Trust me, he was a President. William Henry Harrison inaugurated on March 4, 1841. That day it is believed he got a bad cold or pneumonia and 31 days later he passed away.. He literally did absolutely nothing as President of the United States.

Now some would say this makes him the greatest President in history, and they would be right! But this also would make him a terrible exterminator. A good Pest Professional needs to be consistent in serving his customers month after month. Even when he’s “Under the Weather” your tech should show up ready to do a great job killing bugs. Of course we can’t really blame Harrison for not showing up to work, with the dying and all.

If you’re having a problem with any pest…or you simply have a question about natural pest control…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

In the Phoenix / Scottsdale area folks are always looking for Natural Pest Control inside their homes! We are always getting calls from folks with active infestations inside their home asking for interior treatments as well as customers who have control of the pests on their property but are wondering if they need the interior treated for prevention. in this article I will go over what a general interior treatment looks like and when you may need it. We will also cover a few of the questions we commonly get about our approach to natural pest control and interior treatments.

When Should I Have The Inside Treated?

There are lots of different situations where a specific type of interior treatment should be done and just a few where a general baseboard spray is appropriate. Here’s some of the top reasons:

It’s your first treatment

You have an active or new infestation

You share a wall like in an apartment or condo (Sometimes)

It’s Your First Treatment!

Though I do have many customers who have never had the inside of their house sprayed, most customers start off with the interior of their home treated at their initial service. This is because when we start a new customer on our regular service plan we want to start with a clean slate. You want the inside of your home to be free of pests as fast as possible and that usually means an interior treatment is needed to clear out any critters that are living in the house.

But for the vast majority of our customers this is the first and last interior treatment they will ever need! Part of our natural pest control approach is to spray inside your home as little as possible. We use products that work but are pet and human friendly. But that doesn’t mean that it’s responsible to use it more often than needed. Even the the most natural pesticides have some degree of toxicity and should be used in a responsible way.

This is why we do a thorough, conscientious treatment outside every time we come. So that you don’t have to be bothered with the interior treatment.

You Have an Active or New Infestation

When you have a lot of a particular critter in your home that is usually a sign that you could use an interior treatment. Though many of these issues can and should be taken care of at the source, outside, sometimes some of the bugs have taken up permanent residence inside your home! This is when it’s great to have a trained, experienced technician inspect the problem and let you know if it’s something that requires an interior treatment or if he can take care of it outside.

Here are a few critters that usually require an interior treatment of some kind.

German roaches usually need some kind of bait treatment done, especially in the bathrooms and kitchen. Sometimes a specialized liquid spray is needed too but rarely is this problem helped with a general baseboard spray. Ants also are usually treated with a bait and a baseboard spray is not helpful.

If there are a few crickets in your home a baseboard treatment is usually just what the doctor ordered! A cricket problem can be cleared up very fast with proper, regular exterior service and a single interior spray.

Bed bugs are of course always treated inside the home. However a baseboard spray is only a part of the treatment, though a very important part. After a bed bug service we always recommend that you get started on our regular service and have the inside sprayed every 6-12 months to keep the product strong. This is because the treatment last for mush longer inside the home where it’s protected from the sun and weather so and interior service is usually only needed at a maximum of every 6 months.

Bed Bug Expert and NaturZone Owner Bill Stewart says;

“I personally do dozens of Bed Bug Treatments every week and I know I am bringing them home with me. It’s unavoidable. But I treat the inside of my home every 9 months. When you do it right, that’s all you need!”

You Share a Wall Like in an Apartment or Condo

Sometimes when you can’t treat the full perimeter of a structure it becomes necessary to do an interior treatment periodically. For example, if you live in an apartment where you have had a German roach problem before, but the neighbors have not been able to get rid of theirs, that’s when it might be a good idea to have an inside treatment done on a regular basis. (Or better yet, tell the management or HOA to contact NaturZone to have the whole building treated!)

The way to tell if you might need this done is to note how many of a particular pest you see, where you see them and when you see them. If you have a persistent issue that the exterior service isn’t taking care of, it may be time for an inside treatment.

If you’re having a problem with pests…or you simply have a question about natural pest control…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

In the Phoenix / Scottsdale area pest control companies are always asked about Natural Pest Control. What is natural pest control?How is it done? What products do you use? Does natural pest control really work? In this article you will get the basics of a natural pest control treatment from a results driven point of view.

Natural pest control is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit by pest control companies. For some it is just a phrase that sells a service and has no part of their real service. For others it is a way of life, no matter if it works or not. At NaturZone Pest Control we tend to take a middle road between these two. We use as many products with natural ingredients as we can, but we also use some synthetic products but with a more responsible strategy in applying them.

Pesticides

Pesticides are anything that is used to kill or control a pest or pests. In my daily route I usually use from eight to ten different pesticides on a regular basis. each home may only get two or three of these, but I have a wide variety of these tools at my disposal. The main types I use in a regular Bi-Monthly service fall into three different categories.

Baits

Liquid Sprays

Aerosols

Baits are the back bone of NaturZone’s pest treatment strategy. This is a huge part of what sets us apart from the others. We bait first.

The big advantages to using baits are several. First it is easier to control where most baits go. If I use a gel or dust bait inside a home, I know right where to check to see if it’s been eaten by the bugs. I also can put them right where we know the ants, or roaches, or crickets are outside.

Second, getting a bug to eat bait is a very fast and efficient way to kill the pest. Residual sprays rely on the pesticide killing the bug from the outside in in most cases, sometimes taking quite a while. But if the bug eats the product it can move things along very fast.

Third, the active ingredients in most baits we use are naturally derived and have very little toxicity to mammals!

Liquid sprays are the standard for the industry. It’s gotten to the point that when a customer orders a pest treatment they usually ask for a “Spray” because this is what they see everyone else doing. While this is a common part of our strategy, it is definitely not the only part and is not enough by itself.

Most of the liquid sprays that we use are not considered “Natural”but are quite low in toxicity. How we apply them is the big difference! While you may be used to seeing a truck with a 300 foot long hose spraying a huge 6 – 10 foot band around your neighbor’s property, what you don’t know is that when that type of equipment is used the product is required to be sprayed at an almost uselessly low rate. So what you get is a property covered in very weak pesticide.

On the other hand, we use hand equipment, like backpacks, to spray ours. This allows us to spray at the most effective rate for each type of pest. But we don’t spray it all over the yard where you and your pets walk. We spray it in more out of the way places, places where the bugs like to be, like against the foundation of the home or business, or in cracks and crevices. This puts an effective amount of product where the bugs live and where You don’t!

Aerosols with natural plant based active ingredients are something that we use to flush out hard to reach critters. We usually use these in cracks and crevices for things like Black Widows, Scorpions, and Crickets. These kill the bugs very quickly but are not designed to last as long as the liquid sprays or baits do. Aerosols are a very effective tool in cleaning out active infestations of a multitude of different pests.

That covers the basics of Pesticides. Next time I’ll teach you all about the non-pesticide things that we do to help control pest populations! I’ll also go over some of the education that we give our customers in order to have a team effort in the strategy. Also watch for my article on Interior treatments and when and why you may or may not need an inside treatment.

If you’re having a problem with any of these pests…or you simply have a question…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

We regularly, while exterminating indoor pests here in Phoenix, AZ we often encounter carpet beetle larvae, an insect that is so common we find them underneath most couches and beds inside homes. They are the hatched offspring of carpet beetles and are normally sparsely found in a home and quite harmless.
The carpet beetle itself is an insect that roughly has the shape of a lady bug, except that it is much smaller and its colors are often lite brown to very dark brown often with spots as in the picture we have included here. They get into homes by flying in, and generally because of their very small size go unnoticed.

They get their name from their feeding characteristics. Back when carpet was made of wool, carpet beetle larvae were found to eat away at and damage the carpet. This is because these larvae are scavengers and prefer hair in their diet. Thus the name carpet beetles. Of course modern carpet is synthetic so they need other sources of food, such as pet hair and scraps of food.

The get into homes by literally flying in. While in the home they get the chance to lay eggs.

These eggs hatch into larvae, which if looked at closely might roughly remind one of maggots with more hair. Just as carpet beetles very in size, so do their larvae. Most are quite small but some get large enough to get your attention when you come across them. The larvae are scavengers and feed off of organic matter.

Carpet Beetle

We once got called out to a hospice to determine if the larvae under the bed of a “deceased man” were maggots but we identified them as somewhat large carpet beetle larvae. They were developing under the box spring due to the dander that was available to them at the edge of the bed. They were alarming to find, but actually were never “visiting” the occupant of the bed, just scavenging under and around for material they could eat.

We have included a video here of an interesting variety of carpet beetle larvae. These were found while we were performing a bed bug service and had been developing under a dog bed. The dog bed obviously afforded this larvae a lot of food as well as a safe place to live. Note the reddish color of this rather large variation of this insect.

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We fingered it in the video to demonstrate its slow movement. We sometimes get calls from frantic customers stating they found what they might consider “bed bugs” under the bed. We ask them if the bug they found moves more like an ant (kinda fast) or a worm (awfully slow). A slow, hairy (if they can see well enough) wormy like insect is a good description of this harmless creature found in all homes.

Scorpion Control Scottsdale AZ – Are scorpions getting into your home by way of trees?

Scorpion control Scottsdale, Az area is a constant issue with pest control companies. Here at NaturZone Pest Control, we get calls daily from frantic homeowners who have found scorpions in or around their homes.

What can I do other than hire a pest control company to get rid of scorpions?

In this series I’ll give you several pointers on what you, the homeowner, can do, to keep scorpions out of and away from your home.

Scorpions in the Trees?!

Scorpions can play a huge part in scorpion issues in and around your home. After all, they aren’t called Bark scorpions because they go “WOOF”.

Bark Scorpion

What types of trees do they like?

All kinds of Palm trees

Mesquites

Sycamores

Cottonwoods

These types of trees mimic the areas that scorpions like best in the wild.

Scorpion Expert Bill Stewart said; “Scorpions live in the desert and are very well adapted to the hot, dry conditions here. But they, like the rest of us, prefer cool moist areas, which is why, in the wild, they are attracted to riparian areas around washes. creeks and rivers. When we create these types of areas in our yards, we are inviting them onto our property.”

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNsX5hyGA5U[/youtube]

I’ve noticed over the years of treating for scorpions that they seem to really like the nooks of Palm bark. That’s why I pay close attention to those areas around palm trees when treating.

They also find Cottonwoods, Sycamores, and Mesquites in their favorite places in the wild. These are very common in our yards too. Trees touching or hanging over your home can provide a shortcut into your home, Especially through the exhaust fans in your bathrooms and laundry room.

It almost always causes a huge reduction in the amount of scorpions getting into a home when trees are trimmed away from the house!

Next time I’ll start to give you some of the tricks of the trade where it applies to scorpion control in and around your home!

If you’re having a problem with scorpions…or any other pest…or simply a question…call NaturZone Pest Control at 602-476-1088 and ask for me, Jeffrey West. I’ll be happy to speak with you anytime.

Till then, thanks for reading!

Here’s to helping YOU live Pest Free,

Jeffrey

PS. Call 602-476-1088 today for a FREE Consultation and FREE 58 Point Pest Analysis of your home or office!

Scorpion Control Scottsdale Az is Not as Easy as one might think.

Scorpion control Scottsdale Az Is Not as fun as professionals make it look.